# Customer is always right. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044 "2011-07-06T15:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/41 "2011-07-07T02:05:36Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > The customer has the dominance in this scenairo. If you don’t like it, work some where else. Or work for a boss who understands that it’s often better for the bottom line to let problem customers go. A good employee is worth a lot more than a single difficult customer. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/42 "2011-07-07T02:11:13Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Or work for a boss who understands that it’s often better for the bottom line to let problem customers go. A good employee is worth a lot more than a single difficult customer. Depending on your salary, your boss could hire two people for your salary who don’t mind working with difficult customers. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/43 "2011-07-07T02:14:57Z")
I’m not for sales people being berated and treated like dogs with fleas, but when you take a job in retail you know you’re there to help customers. The customer isn’t there to be nice to you or make your job easier. That’s why it’s a job and you’re paid. As opposed to being a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/44 "2011-07-07T02:38:46Z")
Out of curisosity YaraMateo how would you have dealt with\* a group of intoxicated male customers who were making lewd comments at you and groping your breasts? Or a customer who absolutely insists you do something that; a) will get you fired, and/or b) will get you arrested (or at least fined)? I have very good people skills, and an have what I consider an extremely high tolerance for working with unpleasant people, but I do have my limits. Do you agree that there is a point where a customer simply cannot be helped by anything the service provider can or should be expected to do? And please understand I’m not trying to suggest you’ve done anything like any of the examples in my posts. I highly doubt you can give an example of anything you’ve done that would get more than a fake smile and “Have a nice day ma’am” out of me. It actually wasn’t that bad of a job. The crazies were few & far between, most customers were really nice, and it was adjacent to the campus of the college I was attending. \*In case anyone’s wondering I flat out refused to sell them anything (they wanted stuff like cigs, snacks, coffee, & random crap like sunglasses). I also called their driver, who was very annoyed & unsympathic, inside and told him that if he didn’t get them under control and leave I was calling the cops. That was the only time in my life I seriously wanted to hit a woman. I admit I did snap at the crotch-grabber and told her to keep her “fucking hands” off me while calling her a “drunk bitch”. I was a woman and she a man I proubly could’ve gotten away smashing the pot of coffee I was holding against her face (a female coworker actually did once do something similiar). ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/45 "2011-07-07T02:50:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Out of curisosity YaraMateo how would you have dealt with\* a group of intoxicated male customers who were making lewd comments at you and groping your breasts? Or a customer who absolutely insists you do something that; a) will get you fired, and/or b) will get you arrested (or at least fined)? I have very good people skills, and an have what I consider an extremely high tolerance for working with unpleasant people, but I do have my limits. Do you agree that there is a point where a customer simply cannot be helped by anything the service provider can or should be expected to do? And please understand I’m not trying to suggest you’ve done anything like any of the examples in my posts. I highly doubt you can give an example of anything you’ve done that would get more than a fake smile and “Have a nice day ma’am” out of me. It actually wasn’t that bad of a job. The crazies were few & far between, most customers were really nice, and it was adjacent to the campus of the college I was attending. > > \*In case anyone’s wondering I flat out refused to sell them anything (they wanted stuff like cigs, snacks, coffee, & random crap like sunglasses). I also called their driver, who was very annoyed & unsympathic, inside and told him that if he didn’t get them under control and leave I was calling the cops. That was the only time in my life I seriously wanted to hit a woman. I admit I did snap at the crotch-grabber and told her to keep her “fucking hands” off me while calling her a “drunk bitch”. I was a woman and she a man I proubly could’ve gotten away smashing the pot of coffee I was holding against her face (a female coworker actually did once do something similiar). I probably would have whooped some ass and got fired in those situations. These people weren’t rude customers, they were crazy. You can encounter crazy people at most jobs. At my former job, it was a coworker. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/46 "2011-07-07T03:29:28Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Seriously, I have the right to shop where ever I want. no, you do _not._ A business owner can refuse to serve you if he/she pleases, so long as his/her reason does not infringe on very specific protections. > [@](#): > > If you’re not grateful for customers, others will be and treat them nicer. Are some customers jerk? Yes. Can I be a jerk in stores? Sometimes. “the customer is always right” does not entitle you to be a jerk. If you’re a jerk to retail people, you’re a jerk _period._ > [@](#): > > When you go into retail, you go into it knowing that. No, when I went into retail, it was because I needed a job to support myself. At no point did I think “I’m going into this job so I can be a receptacle for all the abuse some self-important d-bags want to pile upon me.” > [@](#): > > The customer has the dominance in this scenairo. If you don’t like it, work some where else. so, another retail job, where I can deal with an entirely different set of pricks/customers? > [@](#): > > I don’t all the people I work with/for, but I don’t go around whining about it. If it bothered me that much, I’d do something else. No job is perfect. :rolleyes: yeah, retail’s not cutting it, so I’ll get in to construction instead. > [@](#): > > I probably would have whooped some ass and got fired in those situations. Internet Tough Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/47 "2011-07-07T03:45:07Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Seriously, I have the right to shop where ever I want. If you’re not grateful for customers, others will be and treat them nicer. Are some customers jerk? Yes. Can I be a jerk in stores? Sometimes. > > When you go into retail, you go into it knowing that. The customer has the dominance in this scenairo. If you don’t like it, work some where else. > > I don’t all the people I work with/for, but I don’t go around whining about it. If it bothered me that much, I’d do something else. No job is perfect. The entitlement is strong with this one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/48 "2011-07-07T05:00:46Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > This phrase was part of some kind of cute marketing campaign in the 80s and nobody says it seriously any more. Why are people still so hung up on it? I heard it in the 60s , Probably been around a lot longer than that. Intended primarily to convey the notion that the buyer knows what he wants or needs better than the seller and even if in any particular case that might not be true, the seller would do well to pretend to believe the customer is always right. Thats the way I’ve always understood it and it makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/49 "2011-07-07T05:05:12Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Depending on your salary, your boss could hire two people for your salary who don’t mind working with difficult customers. So not only are salespeople coddled whiners but they’re also overpaid? Would you like to take any more wild stabs in the dark? > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I heard it in the 60s , Probably been around a lot longer than that. Intended primarily to convey the notion that the buyer knows what he wants or needs better than the seller and even if in any particular case that might not be true, the seller would do well to pretend to believe the customer is always right. > > Thats the way I’ve always understood it and it makes sense to me. The buyer may know what he wants or needs better than the seller. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily in the seller’s ability or interest to provide it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/50 "2011-07-07T13:03:04Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > If you don’t at least pretend I’m always right, I’ll spend my money else where. And when _nobody_ wants to do business with you? I am in a rural area. I’ve fired customers and asked them to stay off my property. I’ve had two or three go on to piss off enough other merchants that they return attempting to do business with me. One threatened legal action when told to get the hell out, but it never went any further. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/51 "2011-07-07T13:22:33Z")
I’d like to distill this saying down to its essence: “The customer is always right” = “Money is more important than people.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/52 "2011-07-07T13:30:13Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I’d like to distill this saying down to its essence: > > “The customer is always right” = “Money is more important than people.” No, because it also applies in situations where the customer is not a paying customer, e.g., in public libraries or hospitals. To me, it means, Why are you in business if not to provide a product or service that customers want or need? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/53 "2011-07-07T14:09:45Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > A biddy who lived nearby thought the stadium lights at night disturbed her sleep, called the superintendent in the middle of the night to complain, who in turn called the principle to complain. I dunno. I think I’m with the “biddy” on this one. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/54 "2011-07-07T14:32:47Z")
It depends on the situation. Example A: Customer goes into, say, McDonald’s says that they want a cheeseburger with no onions (to be clear - they DEFINITELY said no onions). They’re given what they ordered, and customer asks where the onions are. The cashier says something like “I thought it was no onions.” Customer says “no, I said extra onions.” The customer is wrong, of course - they said no onions. It’s not worth fighting over, though, and in this case a smart cashier would probably simply fix the “mistake” and pretend as if the customer actually did order onions. No big deal and in the end everyone’s happy. It’s a minor inconvenience for the cashier and the customer doesn’t lose face - plus the cashier doesn’t waste time fighting a battle they will surely lose, because in the end, the customer’s gonna get their onions. In that example - “the customer is always right” is a pretty good rule of thumb. Example B: Same scenario as above except this time when the customer receives their “incorrect” order they pitch a fit at the counter and ends up throwing it at the person who took the order\* and then demands to speak with the manager because they want them fired - NO. The customer is an asshole and if I were a manager, there is no way I’d put up with someone berating one of my employees. And YES, as unreasonable as it sounds, there are some customers that are THAT shitty and will go ballistic over something THAT minor. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/55 "2011-07-07T15:19:34Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Seriously, I have the right to shop where ever I want. If you’re not grateful for customers, others will be and treat them nicer. Are some customers jerk? Yes. Can I be a jerk in stores? Sometimes. > > When you go into retail, you go into it knowing that. The customer has the dominance in this scenairo. If you don’t like it, work some where else. > > I don’t all the people I work with/for, but I don’t go around whining about it. If it bothered me that much, I’d do something else. No job is perfect. Well, actually, no, you DON’T have the right to shop at a particular store if the owner/manager decides you’re too much trouble to deal with. If you are the type of demanding customer who tries to return stuff after you’ve worn/used it, or the type who comes in the day before your monthly bath, or the type who harasses the staff or other customers, then you might find yourself “trespassed” at a store. Usually we “trespassed” customers who were habitual petty shoplifters, but we’d also do it to the minors who kept trying to play the slot machines (a minor gambling at our machines could cost us our gambling license). Basically, if a customer costs more money than s/he spends in the store on a consistent basis, that customer is NOT a good customer. > [@YaraMateo](#): > > Depending on your salary, your boss could hire two people for your salary who don’t mind working with difficult customers. You’ve never worked retail, have you? Most retail positions pay minimum wage, or just over it. And most don’t get a commission, either. And most retail workers don’t work there because they like it. They work that register because they need SOME sort of job, and they don’t have the skills for anything else. Or they work that job because they can do it part time while they go to school. Very, very few people WANT to work in retail sales. As for ass kissing…only sex workers should kiss ass. Now, salesclerks should definitely be polite and respectful to customers, but that should go both ways. Customers should be polite and respectful to the clerks. Any customer who goes in with the attitude that his/her ass should be covered in lipstick upon leaving the store is not a good customer, and is not right. The clerks should be attentive, alert, and generally helpful. They should be professional and not, for instance, ignore a customer trying to get attention. They do NOT have to put up with rude personal remarks, or worse. The customers should be polite and should not try to text or phone people during the payment transaction, which is not only rude to the clerk but to the other customers as well, who would like to pay up and get out. I think that no adult should be allowed to shop in person unless they’ve worked as a cashier or server, preferably during the holiday season. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/56 "2011-07-07T16:03:40Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > No, because it also applies in situations where the customer is not a paying customer, e.g., in public libraries or hospitals. To me, it means, Why are you in business if not to provide a product or service that customers want or need? A hospital’s not really the same, though, because patients do have to pay (through their insurance or otherwise) for services, and unless it’s some kind of elective surgery they don’t _want_ to be a customer there. Not to mention the combination of illness, fear, and the neverending “hurry up and wait” can turn the nicest person into a frothing hellbeast (lookin’ at you, Mom). Anyway, customers who make use of a free service do have a right to prompt, polite, knowledgable people, but the fact that they’re not paying for it doesn’t give them the right to act like a complete shit to a fellow adult. Like, there’s a difference between going to the library and saying, “I’m trying to find that book about the kids and the lion but I can’t think of the name or author, can you help me?” and “I want that stupid book they made into that movie, with the four kids! Whaddyamean you don’t know which one I mean, how stupid are you? Get the manager!” ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/57 "2011-07-07T16:04:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I think that no adult should be allowed to shop in person unless they’ve worked as a cashier or server, preferably during the holiday season. Actually I always thought that’d make a great reality show. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/58 "2011-07-07T16:33:01Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > I dunno. I think I’m with the “biddy” on this one. I don’t know. It was only for a single night for what I would consider a good cause, and she refused to take up the offer of a hotel room for that night. Nope, I’ll still go with “biddy.” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/59 "2011-07-07T17:32:58Z")
> [@ugly ripe tomato](#): > > Actually I always thought that’d make a great reality show. You know, it would. Although there is that show that was on where the CEOs went and worked the low man on the totem pole jobs anonymously. It used to be that you got a job and worked your way up, so you had some idea of the hell that the line grunt went through … now prissy little dweebs get degrees in management and get jobs without ever having to work real jobs, and they are the ones that are making the stupidest management decisions that have no bearing on life in the real world… I bet if the management students were forced to work as clerks and such they would have a hell of a different view towards their management decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044/60 "2011-07-07T18:17:07Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’d like to see a study done about the profitability of self-entitled “I am the customer and I am always right” customers vs. normal customers. I bet they’re not profitable customers for just about any line of business. > > And since companies exist for the purpose of making a profit, there is little to be gained by attempting to assuage the demands of these people. If they threaten to go to your competitors, then you’re better off letting them go. I think this book is about ten years old now - but here you go: > **[Angel Customers and Demon Customers: Discover Which is Which and Turbo-Charge...](https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Customers-Demon-Discover-Turbo-Charge/dp/1591840074)** > > Angel Customers and Demon Customers: Discover Which is Which and Turbo-Charge Your Stock \[Selden, Larry, Colvin, Geoffrey\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Angel Customers and Demon Customers: Discover Which is Which and... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-is-always-right/588044.md?page=4)